DO YOU HAVE TO GROW A BEARD?
What does it mean to be “prophetic”?

‘The words are fire in my belly, a burning in my bones. I'm worn out trying to hold it in. I can't do it any longer!’ (Jeremiah 20:9, The Message)

DOES “BEING PROPHETIC” mean growing a beard (even if you’re a woman) and spouting King James phrases in a deep voice (“Thus saith the Lord of hosts, verily...”)? Is it the spiritual gift of pointing out people’s faults?

Do you have to be generally a bit, well, weird?

Certainly, prophets in the Bible weren’t what you’d call conventional (unless you’d call smashing pottery in public places and going around naked for three years conventional).

Hosea symbolically married a prostitute. Jeremiah and John the Baptist didn’t marry at all.

But we completely miss the point if we think that “being prophetic” equals “being eccentric”. These men weren’t odd – they were consumed with passion. Passion that sometimes led them to do dramatic things in order to communicate God’s heart.

That’s what really being prophetic is all about. Caring – really caring, from deep down, from your guts – about the things God cares about. About justice and truth. About His Son having a glorious church that’s worthy of Him.

Prophetic people will do the things that Jesus said and challenge others by how they live: sometimes they won’t even have to open their mouths. You’ll find them sharing everything with their brothers and sisters in community. You’ll find them laying down their lives (for real, not just talk) in lifelong pledges of loyalty. They’ll be alongside the poor, spending their lives.

They’ll earn the right to challenge others to more commitment and reality, not by the amount of facial hair they have, but by authentic lives, filled with passion for the cause of Jesus.

It’s scary being prophetic. But you don’t have to grow a beard.

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